Cushioned shoe heel



Sept. 5, 1961 s. ISRAEL 2,998,661

CUSHIONED SHOE HEEL Filed Aug. 11, 1958 20 Flag/a 2 a Facgo 3.,

IN V EN TOR.

Samuel Israel BY ATTORNEY' United States Patent O FMice 2,998,661 CUSHIONED SHOE HEEL Samuel Israel, Minneapolis, Minn., assign-or, by mesne assignments, to York E. Langton, as trustee, St. Louis Park, Minn.

Filed Aug. 11, 1958, Ser. No. 754,472 7 Claims. (Cl. '36-38) This invention relates to improvements in the construction of a shoe heel. In general, the invention is concerned with providing a heel construction that conforms to the biomechanical principles that govern the action of the human foot, Iand that also reduces the shock of walking on hard surfaces.

rIlhe present invention constitutes -a modication of construction shown in my co-pending application S.N. 664,257 which has been abandoned in favor of this application and Ser. No. 825,606.

It 'has long been recognized that the human body suffers considerable shock and fatigue from walking with shod feet on hard surfaces. The conventional rubber heel has been offered as one form of shock absorber, and many other forms of shoe heel construction embodying internal springs have been tried to improve foot comfort. None of these prior constructions have been entirely satisfactory, because they have failed to recognize and conform with the biomechanical actions of the human foot. In initiating gait, the calca-neus or great heel bone forms the actual point of applied force, and it rotates outwardly and forwardly from its rear end towards the main arch before the. full weight Vof the Ibody is transferred to the entire foot. Because the calcaneus is embedded in the fleshy part of the heel, and is therefore, spaced somewhat forwardly from the rear-most part of the shoe, the `actual point of applied force in a shod foot is not at the rear' end of the shoe, but is in advance thereof, and therefore tends to cause the shoe to work in opposition to the foot,

In the present' invention, I have provided fa shoe heel that cou-forms to the biomechanical action of a portion of thefoot. The llreel is constructed to eliminate the shock of walking on hard surfaces, and thus materially reduce fatigue. The construction embodies a traction member formed with a sector on the outer rear side, which has a hinged relationship with the main body of said member. Overlying the traction member is a second member preferably 'formed ,of highly resilient material which permits the hinged movement of the sector of the traction member. Between the two members are some resilient members that further cushion the gait land which coact with the two members to provide for their proper functioning.

An object of the invention is to provide an improved heel construction that produces a rocker actionV ofthe heel by substantially dividing the shoe heel into two portions, one of which has a hinged relationship to the other.

A further object is tlo provide a h'eel composed Vof a traction member that isv substantially dividedl along la line extending diagonally beneath the calcaneus to provide a hinged relationship of lthe outer rearmost portion relative to the :forward portion thereof, said member underlying a layer of resilient material that is affixed to the shoe, together with springs disposed between said members to cushion the shock of walking, and also coacting with other portions of the two members to transfer the Weight of the body to the outer lateral side of the heel.

Other and further objects may become apparent from the following description and claims, and in the appended drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a partial side elevation of a shoe embodying the heel forming the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the heel construction shown.

in FIG. 1;

Y 2,998,661 Patented Sept. .5, 1961 FIG. 3 is an end view of the heel shown in FIG. 2, as seen from the right side thereof;

FIG. 4 is a sectional elevation taken on the line 4-4 of FIG. 2; and,

FIG. 5 is a bottomplan view of the heel shown in FIGS. 2, 3 and 4.

Referring now to the several views of the drawings, the invention will be described in detail.

Reference character 10 indicates la shoe upper, and for purposes of future identication, the view is of the outer side of a shoe intended for the right foot. Reference character 12 indicates a full sole extendingbeneath the upper to the rear end thereof.

The novel heel construction is indicated by general reference numeral 14. An upper member 16 underlies the full sole 12 on the rear end of the shoe 10, and is formed of resilient material. While the degree of resilience of member '16 is not critical, it should preferably be relatively soft, since its primary `function is to act as a cushion. It may be composed off rubber or similar materials having resilient characteristics. 'I'he upper surface of member 16, designated at 18, conforms to the lower surface of the full sole 12, or the lower surface of the rear end of the shoe upper 10. 'Ihe under surface of member 16 lies on two planes extending on opposite sides of a diagonal ledge 20 that extends from adjacent the rear inner side of member 16 beneath the area normally occupied by the calcaneus bone to the opposite side of member l16, thereby forming a Irear sector 22 in one plane and a forward portion 24, which is thicker than portion 22. The forward portion 24 constitutes a base ffor a part of the heel and the rear of the arch and is of greater length on the inner side of the shoe, for reasons to be discussed hereinafter. Member 16 contains three vertical openings designated at 28, 30, :and 32.

Underlying member 416 is a traction member 34 whose lower surface 36 extends generally on a single plane, and is preferably molded with a suitable traction tread thereon. Member 34 is formed of a less resilient material than member 16, but it may `also be formed of rubber, synthetic rubber, or other material suitable Ifor traction purposes. The upper surface of member 34 lies on two planes extending on opposite sides of a diagonal ledge 42 that extends substantially parallel to ledge 20. The ledgev 42 forms a rear sector 40 that coacts with the rear sector 22 of member 16, yand a forward portion 38 that underlies and coacts with the forward portion 24 of member' ings 30 and 32, and in contact with the coinciding re-A cesses in member 34, is a pair of similar coil springs 46. Disposed within the recess of member 34, coinciding with the opening 28 is a spherical member 48, that underlies a shorter coil spring 50.

The assembly and operation of the heel will now be explained. Initially, the sphere 48 and the three springs 1 46 and 50 are properly positioned in the respective openings 28, 30 and 32, and between the members 16 and 34. Then a layer of suitable adhesive is placed between the v adjacent coacting surfaces of members 16 and 34, and the two members are pressed together to be more or less In applying the.` assembled heel 14 to a shoe, a layer of adhesive is applied permanently adhered to one another.

between the upper surface 1\8 of member 16 and the lower .surface of the full sole 12, whence the heel is pressed to the bottom of the shoe upper and adhered thereto. Itis 3 highly desirable that the heel assembly 14 be adhesively joined to the shoe, rather than to be affixed thereto with nails or other fastening devices, since such devices tend to reduce the resilence of the upper member 16.

In initiating gait, the initial contact of the shod foot with the ground surface is at the outer rear edge of the sector 40 at about the center of said portion. As pressure is applied by additional weight from the foot,- the sector 40 hinges along the partial kerf 44 against the sector 22 of member 16, which because of its resilient character will become compressed. This action also causes a compression of spring 50. Then, as the gait is advanced, the weight of the foot is transferred from sectors 40 and 22 to the forward portions 24 and 38. Because the broader portion of the forwardly extending parts underly the inner side of the foot arch and will give greater resistance to the transfer of weight thereto, they tend to transfer the weight of the foot to the outer or narrower portions of these parts. As the weight is transferred from the rear sectors, the resilience of sector 22, aided by the action of spring 50, returns this portion of the heel to its normal position, where for a momentary period the weight is distributed between the several parts of the heel, but with the tendency to transfer the weight to the outer lateral edge of the heel. The function of sphere 48 is to reduce the friction between member 28 and the coil spring 50, since the hinged action of sector 40 occurs with every step.

The advantages of the invention reside in reducing the shock of walking on hard surfaces, and in reducing fatigue to the body by conforming to the natural biomechanical operations of the foot.

My invention is defined in the terms of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A cushioningdevice adapted for mounting on the lower rear end of a shoe upper, comprising a member composed of resilient material formed with a at lower surface, said member containing a kerf that extends upwardly from the lower surface and which commences adjacent the rear inner lateral limit of said member and extends diagonally forward beneath the area covered by the calcaneus to the opposite lateral limit of said member forming a forwardlyextendingyportion` and a sector ,on the rear outer side of said member having a hinged relation-4 ship at said kerf with respectto the forwardly extending portion, and a spring embedded in the sector portion and working between the shoe upper and the sector portion to resist the hinged movement of said sector portion on contact of said portion with a relatively hard surface during initiation of gait.

2. A cushioning device adapted for mounting on the lower rear end of a shoe upper, comprising a member composed of resilient material formed with a lflat lower` surface, said member containing a kerf that extends upf,

wardly from the lower surface and which commences adjacent the rear inner lateral limit of said member and extends diagonally forward beneath the area covered by the calcaneus to the opposite lateral limit of said member forming a portion that extends forwardly from the cal-` caneus and a sector on the rear outer side of said member having a hinged relationship at said kerf with respect to said forwardly extending portion, a coiled spring embedded in the sector portion and working between the shoe upper and said sector portion to resist movement of the sector portion on contact of said portion with a relatively hard surface during initiation of gait, and a bearing positioned between the outer end of said coil spring and the sector portion to reduce the frictional contact between said spring and said sector portion.

3. A cushioning device adapted for mounting on the lower rear end of a shoe upper, comprising a traction member formed with a tlat lower surface, said member,`

containing a kerf that commences adjacent the rearinner"` ward beneath the area covered by the calcaneus to the opposite lateral limit of said member forming a forwardly extending heel base and a sector portion on the rear outer side of said member, a layer of material having substan tially greater resilience than said traction member united to the upper surface of both portions` of said traction member and forming a hinge between saidheel base and said sector-shaped portion when pressure is applied to the latter, and a coil spring penetrating said layer of material with its' outer end engaging the sector portion of said traction member to cushion the hinged movement of said sector portion on initiation of gait.

4. A cushioning device adapted for mounting on the lower rear end of a shoe upper, comprising a traction member formed with a flat lower surface, said member formed with an upwardly extending kerf that commences adjacent the rear inner lateral limit of said member and extends diagonally forward beneath the area covered by the calcaneus to the opposite lateral limit of said member forming a forwardly extending heel base and a sector on the rear outer side of said member, a layer of material having substantially greater resilience than said traction member'overlying said traction member and forming a hinge between said heel base and the sector when pressure is applied to said sector, a pair of laterally spaced coil springs projecting through said second member and engaging the heel base of said traction member, another coil spring penetrating said second member and extending into the sector portion of said traction member for resisting relative movement of said sector portion withrespect to said heel base, and a sphere disposed in said sector-shaped portion and engaging the lower end of said last named coil spring and forming a rotatable bearing between said sector "portion and said spring.

5. A cushioning device adapted for mounting on the lower rear end of a shoe upper, comprising a traction member formed with a flat lower surface, said member on its lower surface formed with an upwardly extending partial kerf that commences adjacent the rear inner latter limit of said member and extends diagonally forward beneath the area normally covered by the calcaneus to the opposite latter limit of said member forming a forwardly extending heel base and a sector on the rear outer side of said member having a hinged relationship at said kerf with respect to the heel base, a second member formed of resilient material overlying said traction member and conforming to all of the lateral limits of said traction member, the adjacent faces of said traction member and said second member formed on diierent planes along a line substantially parallel With said kerf, a coil spring having one end embedded in the sector portion of said traction member and projecting upwardly through the second member to coact with the shoe upper and resist hinged movement of said sector portion.

6. A cushioning device adapted for mounting on the lower rear end of a shoe upper, comprising a traction member formed with a hat lower surface, said member containing a kerf that extends upwardly from the lower surface and which commences adjacent the rear inner lateral limit of said member and extends diagonally forward beneath the area covered by the calcaneous to the opposite lateral limit of said member, forming a forwardly extending portion and a sector on the rear outer side of saidmemberlhavingga hinged relationship at said kerf with respect to the forwardly extending portion, a layer of material having substantially greater resilience than said traction member, positioned between said traction member and the shoe upper, a coil spring having one Vof said portion with a relatively hard surface, and other coiled springs each `having one end embedded in the forwardly projecting portion and extending `upwardly through said second member in the direction of the shoe upper.

7. A cushioning device adapted for mounting on the lower rear end of a shoe upper, comprising a traction member formed with a relatively at lower surface, said member containing a kerf that projeets4 upwardly from the lower surface and extends laterally to the opposite sides of said member beneath the calcaneus forming a base that projects forwardly from the calcaneus and a sector on the rear end of said base, a`second member composed of material having substantially greater resilience than said 'traction member, positioned between said tract-ion member and the shoe upper forming a cushion and a hinge at the kerf between the portions of 6 said traction member, and a spring embedded in said second member and extending in a vertical direction between the sector portion of lthe traction member and the shoe upper to cushion initial contact of said sector portion with a Irelatively hard surface during initiation of gait.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,977,695 Pinaud Oct. 23, 1934 2,501,522 Israel Mar. 21, 1950 2,629,189 Stein Feb. 24, 1953 2,669,038 De Wer-th Feb. 16, 1954 2,721,400 Israel Oct. 25, 1955 

